Yard equipment fails

[henzilla]

Well, taking a break from Spring cleaning and still clearing damage from ice storm late February taking a lot of live oak tree limbs down. Today’s gusty winds shaking more high in the trees widow makers loose and I retreated



On the failed equipment side, was mowing when it got noticeably louder in spite of earbuds and good mowing tunes
Stopped to see this:



Stud broken off in head
I average a mower every three years, mostly busted crankshafts from the sheer pin not being as quick as needed from limestone rocks that keep surfacing or cedar stumps from PO leaving them 3” above ground level and me forgetting each season. I’ll prob fix this later today. Guess it had lost other bolt and vibration wore the remaining one down.
My rider has propulsion issues that a new belt didn’t solve and I don’t have time for currently. I’ll drop off to service later this week as well.



Replaced fuel lines and priming bulbs on chainsaws and weed eaters last season and all new batches of fuel.
Was using pole saw and lowered for a minute to reposition and somehow managed to find the limestone rock under tree ranch that had come down, instant dull! Moved on to destroy something else


My only sanity check is I don’t have snowblowers

 

[pauls1150]

Question for ya - is the "shear pin" the big bolt going into the output shaft, or the Woodruff key that holds and aligns the shaft to the round-to-square blade mounting assembly? Or an actual pin that your machine has (had)?

Sunday I started mowing the front lawn... got about 10 feet and suddenly CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANK!
The entire blade assembly, and all the adapter pieces scattered over a two-foot wide area.
(Nothing hit me, but I always wear tall heavy work boots when doing this stuff.)
Turned out that the Big Honkin' Bolt that holds the blade & adapters to the engine's output shaft had sheared! Not just under its head - the "typical" place" - but about half an inch from that.

I was able to collect all the pieces, including the little Woodruff key (had to really search in the grass for that) that aligns & holds the adapter assembly to the shaft. (I may one or two in my stash somewhere, but Harbor Freight sells 'em too, so I wasn't worried.) And I even had a bolt of the right thread and length, so I blue-Loctited it in there. Worked great all day Monday; I guess I'll find out over time if the new bolt has the required shear strength...

 

[Omega Man]

Question for ya - is the "shear pin" the big bolt going into the output shaft, or the Woodruff key that holds and aligns the shaft to the round-to-square blade mounting assembly? Or an actual pin that your machine has (had)?

Sunday I started mowing the front lawn... got about 10 feet and suddenly CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANK!
The entire blade assembly, and all the adapter pieces scattered over a two-foot wide area.
(Nothing hit me, but I always wear tall heavy work boots when doing this stuff.)
Turned out that the Big Honkin' Bolt that holds the blade & adapters to the engine's output shaft had sheared! Not just under its head - the "typical" place" - but about half an inch from that.

I was able to collect all the pieces, including the little Woodruff key (had to really search in the grass for that) that aligns & holds the adapter assembly to the shaft. (I may one or two in my stash somewhere, but Harbor Freight sells 'em too, so I wasn't worried.) And I even had a bolt of the right thread and length, so I blue-Loctited it in there. Worked great all day Monday; I guess I'll find out over time if the new bolt has the required shear strength...

How bad was the mower shaking or vibrating before this? It’s important to sharpen and balance the blade at least yearly.
The Woodruff key is both an assembly locater and a safety device so the crankshaft doesn’t take the full hit. The bolt assembly is supposed to have a locking washer be it a standard lock washer or a concave “clover” style lock washer.
I don’t think I would have used Loctite, for a number of reasons.
OM

 

[pauls1150]

It's ALWAYS been quite a shaker; I got it used at a yard sale about 15 years ago!
(The prior owner couldn't keep it running, so I cleaned out the carb and added a fuel filter - success!)
I sharpen the blades "occasionally" (I put a new one on several years ago)... I have an El-Cheapo balancer but never bothered to use it.
It did have a standard lock washer (split ring), but it had lost its shape and tension, so I used a new one there too.
I had to use a pliers to grab and turn the remnant of the original bolt; it was pretty hard to turn for a few rotations. Blue Loctite doesn't scare me; I can apply heat if needed.
Maybe I should stop trying to mow the edge of the concrete...

 

[henzilla]

I used to have a bro-in-law, not Chuck lol, that provided me a new mower regularly when his would not start. Took it home, replaced foul fuel and plug and mowed away.


I replaced shear pins on the crank holding the blade mount or the holder with built in sheer pin enough to know when it wasn’t that… a few times the puddle of oil I stepped in after strike was a bad sign!
Kept blades sharp and knew if it was shaking, I was in need of a blade because a big chunk is gone

 

[Omega Man]

A municipal building I was overseeing-
I went by to check on the building and noticed about 300 “crop circles” in the lawn. I asked what happened and was told the (hand) mower kept losing its wheel position.
I figured I would take a look- yeah, something wrong with the blade height/wheel adjuster. Yeah, bag attachment was so full must have weighed 40 pounds.
I fixed the wheel issue so it would never move again and emptied the bag. I thought I should check the blade- just in case.


Some of the things I have seen.
OM

 

[pauls1150]

Wow, I've never seen one that bad! But I've felt like that after a day of mowing...

C'mon, people, fess up your goofs!

 

[EUGENE]

We all have our days!

 

[powwow]

All of this discussion makes me so glad we sold our 7 acre property with 3.5 acres of landscaping and bought a townhouse.

 

[henzilla]

All of this discussion makes me so glad we sold our 7 acre property with 3.5 acres of landscaping and bought a townhouse.

I love pain, going from six acres to twenty two. Most is a heavily wooded ridgetop though

OM, isn’t that the newfangled mulching blade?

 

[pglaves]

I love pain, going from six acres to twenty two.

Wimp. Voni and I have 32 acres and don't complain about mowing.

 

[Omega Man]

OM, isn’t that the newfangled mulching blade?

The 300 or so “crop circles” generated by the spinning blade landing flat to the dirt should have been a clue something wasn’t right. I guess there wasn’t an OPEI sticker didn’t describe that possibility.
OM

 

[henzilla]

Wimp. Voni and I have 32 acres and don't complain about mowing.

 

[powwow]

Wimp. Voni and I have 32 acres and don't complain about mowing.

Every time I mowed I was always thinking about all the other things I would rather be doing than mowing grass (riding my moto?). What was the point? Yeah, the place looked spectacular when I finished but to what end? For me, it just got to a point where it didn't make any sense to be spending all of my precious time on upkeep of the place. But, that's just me...I certainly do understand those that enjoy it and love the privacy of acreage.

 

[Omega Man]

If anyone is having trouble with completing their mowing tasks, I suggest investing in a more efficient mower and “tuning” their property for efficient mowing. New mowing equipment is extremely efficient and the sit-down units have better factory seating than some bikes I know.
OM

 

[Seaweed]

Poor cut

After I bought my tractor from a friend, I found the blades mounted upside down............cutting from the backside of the blades.

 

[henzilla]

Paul needs to post a picture of his acreage . Low maintenance comes to mind!

Our current place only has a small needy lawn around house and cabin, the rest goes natural except for trails and fire breaks. The live oaks shed leaves twice a year and messy tassles this time of year so I do have to rake, mulch and blow more than I like. The AR place has about an acre out of twenty two that will need some time, May even hire a local for awhile as a zero turn wide deck would make quick work of that.

On the power equipment headaches, replacing tiny fuel lines and primer bulbs gets overlooked until they age out and you talk to yourself a lot as the fuel runs down your leg or arm

I have a 2 cycle 3/4” drill that doesn’t get used as much as years back and is stored in the shop without fuel. Pulled it out the other day to find brittle lines and cracked bulb. That project got delayed as I wasn’t using the brace and bit to punch holes in a 12” diameter pole I retired from that!

I also tried a 4 cycle weed eater a few years back but wasn’t happy with its slow response to throttle and seems to bog down easy. I parked it and moved back to a two banger!

 

[henzilla]

After I bought my tractor from a friend, I found the blades mounted upside down............cutting from the backside of the blades.

That works well!

 

[Omega Man]

After I bought my tractor from a friend, I found the blades mounted upside down............cutting from the backside of the blades.

Happens more that you would think. It is pretty easy to recognize. It's not a mowing.....more like a "buffing".
Well cut grass has (grass) blades that look like they were cut with scissors- a nice flat cut across the (grass) blade.
OM

 

[pglaves]

Paul needs to post a picture of his acreage . Low maintenance comes to mind!